Tim Peake’s spacecraft presented in new exhibition

Schools visiting the National Museum Cardiff between now and February 2019 will be able to see the spacecraft that brought Tim Peake back to Earth from the International Space Station.

The free exhibition is running at the museum until 10th February 2019. The display contains the Tim Peake’s Soyuz TM-19M capsule, complete with a full interior and char marks from its re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.

Other items that can be viewed include Tim Peake’s Sokol KV-2 emergency spacesuit and the spacecraft antenna.

Interactive displays about the International Space Station and life in space are also present, alongside a virtual reality adventure which will allow students to experience the descent from space, with narration from Tim Peake himself.

The Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carried Tim Peake and crewmates Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra back to Earth on the 18th June 2016, after which it was acquired by the Science Museum Group.

Commenting on the acquisition, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake said: “You do become very attached to your spacecraft because it definitely does save your life. I’m absolutely delighted that my Soyuz spacecraft, the TMA-19M, is going to be returning here to the UK and may serve, hopefully, as inspiration for our next generation of scientists and engineers.”

School visits to the National Museum Cardiff

Schools visiting the National Museum Cardiff can explore the exhibitions with self-led resources and/or take part in a museum-led activity.

The Tim Peake exhibition joins a range of other temporary, and permanent displays at the museum, alongside learning resources and workshops that can be linked to a range of topics within the school curriculum.

An example Key Stage 2 workshop includes Dinosaur Detectives, during which students will handle real fossils and dinosaur bones as they work together to identify them, use Maths skills to compare the size of a T-Rex and a child’s footprint and invent a new dinosaur using word roots to name it.

Meanwhile, Key Stage 3 and 4 students could participate in museum-led explorations such as Museum Science, which will have them exploring the chemical reactions that take place in the Museum and how they are prevented.